Four member agencies of Vermont Care Partners (VCP) have come together to reshape the delivery and coordination of care through a partnership with Netsmart to deploy a unified technology platform. As value-based care quickly becomes reality, Lamoille County Mental Health Services, Northwestern Counseling and Support Services, United Counseling Services of Bennington and Washington County Mental Health Services will leverage the full suite of solutions from Netsmart to integrate with Vermont’s other care providers, establish common clinical workflows and ensure their outcomes-focused mission can continue to thrive as the healthcare landscape evolves.

The four community-based agencies share a common vision with Netsmart: to use technology to drive a more connected, outcomes-focused approach to mental health, substance use and developmental disability services and supports. The partnership offers the ability to leverage a common EHR platform across much of the state of Vermont, reducing operational costs while simultaneously connecting the state’s providers. This approach will enable accelerated access to evidence-based practice, which translates directly back to high-quality care for the citizens of Vermont.

“Vermont is undergoing a significant shift in how we are paying for and delivering care. Our network agencies are focused on high-quality care and outcomes and are actively involved in the movement toward a more integrated delivery system,” said Simone Rueschemeyer, one of VCP's executive directors. “The Netsmart platform will allow agencies to improve coordination with other providers, analytics around operations and cost to support quality improvement processes both as individual organizations and across the network.”

The agencies leveraging Netsmart solutions will benefit from easy-to-use technology that offers comprehensive workflow management as well as real-time visibility to vital health data, giving clinicians the valuable insight they need to make informed care decisions. Leveraging a comprehensive analytics platform provides an in-depth view of operational, clinical and financial outcomes that help guide providers toward delivering true value-based care.

“With committed partners like Netsmart, there’s the opportunity for scalability and resources to help ensure the viability of our network agencies in a value-based world,” Rueschemeyer said. “Looking forward, this common technology foundation could open the door for Vermont’s providers to create a national model for innovation.”

“Our partners in Vermont are progressively taking steps to lead the way in the transition to value-based care by implementing technology that will meet their unique needs and objectives as well as connect with other providers across the state,” said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. “Having the opportunity to work with them at a grassroots level is exciting, and we are committed to a long and successful relationship which will improve the health of the residents of Vermont.”

About Vermont Care Partners

Vermont Care Partners (VCP) is a statewide network of sixteen non-profit, community-based agencies providing mental health, substance use, and intellectual and developmental disability services and supports. VCP provides statewide leadership for an integrated, high-quality system of comprehensive services and supports.

Committed to excellence and innovation, VCP provides strategic return on investment by serving as a vehicle for collaboration, systems integration and improvement, economies of scale and new opportunities and markets.

About Netsmart

Netsmart designs, builds and delivers electronic health records (EHRs), solutions and services that are powerful, intuitive and easy-to-use. Our platform provides accurate, up-to-date information that is easily accessible to care team members in behavioral health, care at home, senior living and social services. We make the complex simple and personalized so our clients can concentrate on what they do best: provide services and treatment that support whole-person care.

By leveraging the powerful Netsmart network, care providers can seamlessly and securely integrate information across communities, collaborate on the most effective treatments and improve outcomes for those in their care. Our streamlined systems and personalized workflows put relevant information at the fingertips of users when and where they need it.

For 50 years, Netsmart has been committed to providing a common platform to integrate care. SIMPLE. PERSONAL. POWERFUL.

Our more than 1,700 associates work hand-in-hand with our 600,000+ users in more than 25,000 organizations across the U.S. to develop and deploy technology that automates and coordinates everything from clinical to financial to administrative.

Learn more about how Netsmart is changing the face of healthcare today. Visit www.ntst.com, call 1-800-472-5509, follow us on our CareThreads Blog, LinkedIn and Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit us on YouTube.

Netsmart is pleased to support the EveryDayMatters® Foundation, which was established for behavioral health, care at home, senior living and social services organizations to learn from each other and share their causes and stories.